Method for loading mine cars and loading apparatus therefor



Nov. 23, 1965 LAGERSTRM 3,219,199

METHOD FOR LOADING MINE CARS AND LOADING APPARATUS THEREFOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 1, 1962 mm #mi INVENTOR.

Nov. 23, 1965 G. LAGERSTRM METHOD FOR LOADING MINE CARS AND LOADING APPARATUS THEREFOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June l, 1962 wm fut @M1 OW QM,

VENTOR.

Nov. 23, 1965 G. LAGERsrRM 3,219,199

METHOD FOR LOADING MINE CARS AND LOADING APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed June 1, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Nov. 23, 1965 G. LAGERsTRM 3,219,199

METHOD FOR LOADING MINE CARS AND LOADING APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed June 1, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 //cS// o@ 69 66 44 M 39 Q 45 Pfg/l 46 ,lr/'Q /2 26 5%? z/ 1N l I F l m l if 'L J: I I V'"|" =rr Jg Il F 7e f *il* IL l l 1N ENTOR. I M, 7m /3 L i I M 3,219,199 METHOD FOR LOADING MINE CARS AND LOADING APPARATUS THEREFOR Gunnar Lagerstrm, Nacka, Sweden, assigner to Atlas Copco Aktiebolag, Nacka, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Filed June 1, 1962, ser. No. 199,451 6 Claims. (Cl. 214-1) This invention relates generally to the loading and handling of loose material and more specifically to the loading and handling `of loose rock material or muck created during the process of forming underground excavations such as in mining or tunnel driving.

It is presently common practice to employ at the face of the tunnels or drifts standard loading machines for placing the loose rock material or muck into open topped mine cars. As each successive car becomes filled it is switched out and replaced with an empty car for subsequent lling. In connection therewith the tunnels or drifts for economical reasons often are so narrow as to accommodate traic only in a single ille for example along a single pair of rails forming a trackway. In such cases it has hitherto been necessary to displace the loaded cars a considerable distance to a point where switching of the cars in order to remove the loaded car and to replace it by an empty one is made possible by some special arrangement, for example a second trackway in a wide tunnel section with switching arrangement. Much time is thus consumed in switching the mine cars during which time the loading machine has to remain idle causing delay in the mining operations. l

One object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for loading mine cars in a tunnel in which the mining operations are performed with a minimum of time losses owing to switching of mine cars. Another object of the invention is to provide an efficient method and apparatus for loading mine cars especially in tunnels allowing single file traffic only. Another object of the invention -is to provide in a narrow ltunnel, in which a string of empty open topped mine cars preferably with a capacity sufficient to hold an entire drift round is used together with a loading machine at the face of the tunnel, a method and apparatus for loading the mine cars, in which the mine cars are switched by an overhead lifting and moving arrangement for single empty cars in a manner to keep switching movements of the string as such at a minimum. A further object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus for loading mine cars in a tunnel in which there is performed an overhead switching and longitudinal displacement of single unloaded cars, the main part of the switching operation being performed while loading of another mine car is in progress.

The above and other objects of the invention will become obvious from the following description and from the accompanying drawings in which an embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example. It should be understood that this embodiment is only illustrative of the invention and that various modifications may be made within the scope of the claims wtihout departing from the scope of the invention.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts:

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts:

FIG. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of a tunnel accommodating a mine car loading apparatus according to the invention.

FIGS. 2-4 are vertical sections corresponding to FIG. 1 but showing different loading and mine car switching stages.

tates Patent Ice FIG. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section of the tunnel and illustrates forward displacement of the overhead trackway.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged transverse section of the tunnel and illustrates overhead switching in progress.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged View partly in section and perspective of the lifting means in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of the side wall of one of the mine cars with a hoist grapple connected and locked thereto.

FIGS. 9a and 9b are fragmentary transverse sections on the line 9 9 in FIG. 8 through the opposed side walls of the mine car.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged transverse section through a lined tunnel accommodating a modification of the overhead trackway.

FIG. 11 shows an enlarged view partly in section of the lifting means in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a top view of a rerailing device for the mine cars.

FIG. 13, finally, is a sectional View on line 13-13 in FIG. l2.

In the figures a gallery, a tunnel or another room as required in underground mining and formed in the rock is designated 20. Rock 21 or other material has been broken up at the face of the tunnel 20 for example by blasting and has to be loaded and hauled away. A loading machine 22 occupies working position adjacent the blasted rock 21 and serves to transfer the rock into open topped wheeled mine cars 23. The loading machine 22 may be of any suitable conventional construction, for example a shovel loader having a self propelled wheeled body 24. The mine cars 23 and preferably also the loading machine 22 may be mounted to move along a trackway 26 consisting of a pair of spaced parallel rails laid out along the oor of the tunnel 20. The tunnel 20 is preferably a narrow one allowing only single file trai-lic of mine cars 23 along the oor of the tunnel or the trackway 26.

Rotatably mounted on the body 24 to turn about a vertical axis is a frame 27 which carries a vertically swingable rocking shovel mechanism including a shovel bucket 28. The shovel 28, when in the lowered position at the front end of the body 24, may dig into the rock pile 21 while the loading machine 22 is stationary or during forward movement thereof, and when loaded may swing upwardly and rearwardly over the top of the loading machine to discharge its contents at the rear side thereof into a mine car 23 which by means of couplers 25 is releasably secured to the loading Imachine 22 to move as a unit therewith.

The shovel 28 may be oscillated about the vertical axis together with the frame 27 to load the rock at either side of the trackway in a manner which is well known. Since the details of the loading machine form no part of the present invention further description thereof is deemed unnecessary. On the trackway 26 the loading machine 22 defines a mine car loading station for the mine car 23' occupying the load receiving position behind the loading machine 22.

The empty mine cars 23 are coupled together by means of the couplers 25 and in actual practice this string of open topped mine cars is designed to hold the entire round of loose material or rock produced by the blast. For convenience of illustration a string is shown as having been built up of four mine cars A-D but it will be understood that any number of cars may be employed to change the total capacity of the complete string to suit the quantity of blasted loose material. The string of empty mine cars is hauled along the trackway 26 to an empty mine car supply station spaced apart some car lengths from and behind the load receiving station adjacent the loading machine 22. The hauling may be performed by a conventional locomotive, fragmentarily indicated at 29, which places the string at the supply station, FIG. 1, and thereupon may be uncoupled for other tasks.

Centrally over the trackway 26 there extends an overhead trackway or monorail beam 30 extending from the rearmost empty mine car of the supply station to the forward load receiving station adjacent the loading machine 22. In the FIGURES 1-7 the monorail beam 30 consists of longitudinally interconnected aligned I-beam sections. The upper flanges of the I-bearn sections are slidably received in brackets 31, FIG. 7, provided with an lupwardly protruding threaded shank 32. Each shank 32 is threadedly received in a Spanner nut body 33 threadedly carried by an oppositely threaded shank 34 lof a roof bolt 35 inserted and expanded in drilled holes 36 in the tunnel roof. A series of such roof bolts 35, spanner nuts 33 and brackets 31 are arranged at suitable intervals over and along the overhead trackway for keeping it firmly suspended centrally over the trackway 26. Lock nuts 37 are provided on the Shanks 32 and 34 for locking the Spanner nuts 33 in adjusted position.

A travelling lifting means or hoist 38 is adapted to move along the monorail beam 30. The hoist 38 may be of any suitable usual type in which a reversible moto-r 39, FIG. 3, is employed to operate a winding drum 40. The travelling hoist 38 is shown as comprising a carriage 41, FIG. 7, mounted on the lower iianges of the monorail 30 by means of opposed pairs of rollers 42 each suitably journalled on the carriage 41 and positioned to engage said lower flanges. A reversible motor 43 is mounted on the carriage 41 and connected to drive through suitable gearing one of the rollers 42. The two stretches of the cable 44 between the winding drum 40 and the anchored end of the cable 44 pass under the sheaves of the loading block 45 which by means of a hook 46 and a chain connection 47 carries a grapple 48.

The grapple 48 is shown as consisting of a frame 49 carrying at its corners upstanding arms 50. The arms 50 carry at their free ends horizontal outwardly directed plates 51 terminated by downwardly turned and inturned hook shaped ends 52. The arrangement of the grapple 48 is such that it may be lowered by means of the hoist 38 inside of an empty mine car 23 into the load receiving space thereof until the plates 51 come to rest against the top of the side walls of the mine car 23 with their hook shaped ends 52 lying closely adjacent the side walls. In order to perform a locking between the grapple 48 and the mine car 23 the opposed side walls of the mine cars are provided with two pairs of downwardly pointing angle brackets 53 into which the inturned hook shaped ends 52 of the grapple 48 are moved through longitudinal displacement of the grapple 48 relative to the mine car 23. For locking the grapple 48 against longitudinal displacement with respect to the mine car 23 transverse abutment plates 54 are welded to one side of the angle brackets 53 preventing axial displacement lof the ends 52 in the brackets 53 in one direction, while movement in the other direction is prevented by means of a locking pin 55 connected by a chain 57 to the base of one yof the hook shaped ends 52 of the grapple 48 and inserted in a hole 56 in the side wall of the mine car 23 adjacent the corresponding angle bracket 53, FIG. 9a.

In the modification of the monorail beam illustrated in FIGS. and 1l there are provided inverted T-shaped brackets 60 the horizontal portions of which serve as journals for a pair of rollers 61. A monorail beam 62 is supported for longitudinal movement on the rollers 61. The monorail 62 consists of a horizontal elongated section 63 carrying welded-on angle irons 64 forming opposed horizontal inner guideways for the rollers 61 and a longitudinally extending opening between the angle irons 64 through which the vertical shanks of the brackets 60 protrude. A centering piece 65 guided between the angle irons 64 forms the central portion of the brackets 60 and serves to prevent the rollers 61 from occupying oblique position in the monorail 62. The opposed free end porrtions of the elongated section 63 serve as a trackway for rollers 66 arranged to travel along the monorail 62 and forming part of a lifting means or hoist 67 equipped in full analogy with the travelling hoist in the FIGURES 1-7. The T-brackets 60 cooperate threadedly with spanner nut bodies 33 threadedly carried by brackets 68. Each bracket 68 is connected to the underside of a plate 69 which by means of bolts 70 may be directly connected to arches or rails 71 forming part of the tunnel lining or especially arranged for carrying the monorail 62.

For explaining the operation of the apparatus disclosed let it be assumed that a loading machine 22 has been moved to the rock pile 21 at the face of the tunnel 2@ and that thereupon a locomotive 29 has hauled forward a string of intercoupled empty mine cars A-D to the empty car supply station behind the load receiving station as illustrated by the string of dotted cars A, B and full line cars C, D in FIG. 1. The leading mine car A of the string is thereupon uncoupled from the string while the loading machine is backed to a position in front of car A and coupled thereto. The loading machine 22 and car A are then advanced to the full line position of FIG. 1 at the muck pile 21 and loading station whereupon loading is commenced. With loading in progress the travelling hoist 38 is moved along the monorail 30 to a position over car B and the grapple 48 is lowered and locked to the brackets 53 of car B. Thereupon car B is lifted to the elevated dotted position in FIG. 1 by means of the hoist 38 whereupon the hoist together with car B is advanced over and past the intermediate space between the rest of the spring and the load receiving station to a position illustrated by full lines in FIG. 1 over or slightly behind the load receiving station and car A. As soon as loading of car A is finished, the loading machine 22 moves lto the rear to the dotted line position in FIG. 2 together with car A under and past the elevated car B to the space between the string and the loading station. This space forms an intermediate station for receiving loaded cars. Here the loading machine 22 is uncoupled from car A and is again advanced toward loading position as illustrated in full lines in FIG. 2 past and under car B. Now car B is swiftly lowered by means of the hoist 38 from the elevated position to the rerailed position of FIG. 3 whereupon the grapple 48 is disconnected from car B and then again elevated. Simulaneously therewith the loading machine is coupled to car B and these two units then advance to continue loading operating as shown in FIG. 4. With loading of car B in progress the next car in the funloaded string, i.e., car C, is elevated and brought forward passing over the intermediate station and the loaded car A to the position illustrated in FIG. 4, whereupon the loading and shifting cycle is repeated until depletion of the empty mine car supply. Simultaneously with such depletion there is formed a string of intercoupled loaded mine cars at the intermediate station. With the string loaded the locomotive 29 is again brought forward, this time for being connected to the loaded string and for hauling the loaded string away via the former positiony of the empty string to the dumping station.

In order lto follow the advancing tunnel face during driving of the tunnel a new roof bolt 35, FIG. 5, is connected centrally to the roof of the tunnel in front of the row of roof bolts 35 and a carrying bracket 311 is connected thereto. Thereupon the entire monorail 30 is displaced in the forward direction sliding in the brackets 31 until the forward end of the monorail 30 is caught and slidingly received in the new bracket. 311. The forward displacement of the monorail may as shown in FIG. 5 be performed with the help of the loading machine 22 and a rope 72 drawn between its coupler 25 and a hole 73 at the rear end of monorail 30, or may be performed in other ways.

It is readily seen that the main part of the overhead shifting of the mine cars is performed while loading is in progress thus keeping the losses in loading time at a minimum.

In some cases it may be advantageous to make rerailing more easy in connection with lowering of the lifted mine cars on the trackway 26. To this end there may be used a mine car rerailing plate 75, FIGS. 12, 13. The plate 75 is provided with longitudinally spaced parallel grooves 76 for the anged wheels of the mine cars and for location of the plate 75 between and on the trackway 26 close at the load receiving station. The plate 75 has a V- shaped guide rail portion 77 which when the mine car is lowered on the plate 75 guides the wheels of the mine car 23 into the grooves 76 and on the trackway 26 as soon as the car 23 is displaced longitudinally a sutiicient distance with respect to the plate 75. Longitudinal channel irons 78 may for strenghening purposes be provided on the underside of the rerailing plate 75.

The embodiments of the invention above described and illustrated in the drawings should only be considered as examples and the invention may be modified in several different ways within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a method for removing the debris collected by digging or blasting at the working face of an underground tunnel by loading a series of mine cars and in which the tunnel is too narrow for two tracks for removing the loaded cars side by side the unloaded cars moving toward the working surface, the steps which comprise hauling toward the working area on a single track a plurality of empty mine cars in a string, uncoupling and advancing the leading cars in said string into load-receiving position adjacent said working surface, loading said leading car while at the same time uncoupling the second car from said empty string, hoisting and suspending said second car above said track lto a height whereby it can be passed over the cars remaining on said track, moving said hoisted and suspended car longitudinally over said track to a position above said leading car being loaded, moving said loaded leading car rearward along said single track away from said working surface and toward said empty string, irnmediately lowering said second car to said track adjacent said working surface whereby the loading of the successive cars in said string is interrupted only substantially momentarily, hoisting and moving longitudinally the third car in said emp-ty string in the same manner as said second car while said second car is being loaded for immediately lowering into said loading position, moving said loaded second car rearward adjacent said loaded leading car, and so on until said string of empty cars has been loaded, and removing said string of loaded cars along said single track away from said narrow tunnel.

2. In an apparatus of the character described for removing debris collected by digging or blasting at the working surface of a mine tunnel too narrow for more than a single le of mine cars and loading said debris into a plurality of said empty mine cars in a string and having a loading machine adjacent said working surface for loading said debris into said mine cars and defining a loading station, the combination which comprises an intermediate station in said tunnel behind said loading station for receiving loaded mine cars therefrom, a rear mine-car supply station made up of said empty string,

means disposed in said loading machine for successively moving said mine cars after loading one after the other from said loading station to said intermediate station, an overhead trackway at least as narrow as said cars and extending above said stations, and hoisting and supending means movable along said overhead trackway for successively and individually lifting said empty mine cars from said su-pply station and suspending them above said other cars disposed on said tunnel floor and moving them longitudinally over said intermediate station to said loading station While preceding car-s are being loaded and lowering them to said loading station for replacing said loaded cars moved from said loading station to said intermediate station.

3. Apparatus as recited in claim 2 in which said overhead trackway is a beam extending longitudinally of said tunnel and including supporting means for holding said beam longitudinally movably along the roof of said tunnel, and means for displacing said beam longitudinally of itself selective to said supporting means.

4. Apparatus as recited in claim 3 in which said means movable along said overhead trackway includes a carriage on said beam adapted to travel along said beam, means for moving said carriage one Way or the other along said beam, and lifting means carried by said carriage for lifting -said cars above the top of the remaining cars disposed on said tunnel floor.

5. Apparatus as recited in claim 3 in which said supporting means includes roof bolts anchored in the roof of said tunnel and brackets disposed upon said roof bolts for supporting said beam slidably longitudinally of itself.

6. Apparatus as recited in claim 2 in which said cars include lateral anges extending along the upper edges thereof, and in which said hoisting and suspending means comprises a hoist and a loading block suspended therefrom, a grapple suspended from `said loading block for insertion into said cars and havin-g a substantially horizontal frame with upstanding arms extending therefrom, means for connecting said block centrally of said grapple, and means for detachably connecting the upper ends of said arms to said lateral flanges on said cars whereby said horizontal frame of said grapple is substantially parallel with the bottom of said cars rand said grapple and frame and loading block are disposed substantially within said cars.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 440,907 11/1890 Wetzler 104-111 X 1,052,174 2/1913 Reilly 104-111 1,546,700 7/1925 Allen.

1,836,444 12/1931 Carnahan.

1,930,608 10/1933 Mariken.

2,587,362 2/1952 Miller 214-41 2,655,360 10/ 1953 Danielsson.

2,670,859 3/1954 Zeckendorf 2141 6.14 2,796,999 6/1957 Russell 214-41 3,062,360 11/1962 Arndt 198-192 X HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner.

ERNEST A. FALLER, Examiner, 

1. IN A METHOD FOR REMOVING THE DEBRIS COLLECTED BY DIGGING OR BLASTING AT THE WORKING FACE OF AN UNDERGROUND TUNNEL BY LOADING A SERIES OF MINE CARS AND IN WHICH THE TUNNEL IS TOO NARROW FOR TWO TRACKS FOR REMOVING THE LOADED CARS SIDE BY SIDE THE UNLOADED CARS MOVING TOWARD THE WORKING SURFACE, THE STEPS WHICH COMPRISE HAULING TOWARD THE WORKING AREA ON A SINGLE TRACK A PLURALITY OF EMPTY MINE CARS IN A STRING, UNCOUPLING AND ADVANCING THE LEADING CARS IN SAID STRING INTO LOAD-RECEIVING POSITION ADJACENT SAID WORKING SURFACE, LOADING SAID LEADING CAR WHILE AT THE SAME TIME UNCOUPLING THE SECOND CAR FROM SAID EMPTY STRING, HOISTING AND SUSPENDING SAID SECOND CAR ABOVE SAID TRACK TO A HEIGHT WHEREBY IT CAN BE PASSED OVER THE CARS REMAINING ON SAID TRACK, MOVING SAID HOISTED AND SUSPENDED CAR LONGITUDINALLY OVER SAID TRACK TO A POSITION ABOVE SAID LEADING CAR BEING LOADED, MOVING SAID LOADED LEADING CAR REARWARD ALONG SAID SINGLE TRACK AWAY FROM SAID WORKING SURFACE AND TOWARD SAID EMPTY STRING, IMMEDIATELY LOWERING SAID SECOND CAR TO SAID TRACK ADJACENT SAID WORKING SURFACE WHEREBY THE LOADING OF THE SUCCESSIVE CARS IN SAID STRING IS INTERRUPTED ONLY SUBSTANTIALLY MOMENTARILY, HOISTING AND MOVING LONGITUDINALLY THE THIRD CAR IN SAID EMPTY STRING IN THE SAME MANNER AS SAID SECOND CAR WHILE SAID SECOND CAR IS BEING LOADED FOR IMMEDIATELY LOWERING INTO SAID LOADING POSITION, MOVING SAID LOADED SECOND CAR REARWARD ADJACENT SAID LOADED LEADING CAR, AND SO ON UNTIL SAID STRING OF EMPTY CARS HAS BEEN LOADED, AND REMOVING SAID STRING OF LOADED CARS ALONG SAID SINGLE TRACK AWAY FROM SAID NARROW TUNNEL. 